Below is a daily summary of links to the latest SPAC news and rumors gathered across the web.
Latest SPAC News: Grab revealed as top food delivery player in ASEAN despite slowing growth, SomaLogic reduces staff, and DL E&C, Doosan invest $25M in X-Energy
Grab tightens ASEAN food delivery grip despite slowing growth
Singapore-based superapp developer Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB) is cementing its position as the dominant food delivery player in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, even as growth in the once booming digital service dramatically slows, a report released on Tuesday showed.
The Nasdaq-listed startup is now the leader in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines within the 10-member ASEAN bloc, according to the report published by Singapore-based Momentum Works.
“Grab, as a result of the SPAC listing, they received a large cash infusion,” Jianggan Li, CEO of Momentum Works, said during an online briefing on Tuesday. “So, compared to the major players, they probably have the best cash position.”
READSomaLogic implements ‘small reduction’ in staff in effort to ‘right-size’
SomaLogic Inc. (Nasdaq: SLGC), a Boulder-based biotechnology company that went public last year in a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, cut its workforce last month in advance of what company leaders expect could be an economically rocky 2023.
In a regulatory disclosure this week, the company, which develops platforms to read thousands of proteins in a patient’s blood or urine sample that may signal illnesses or future health conditions and suggest potential treatments via machine learning, said it has undergone a “recent right-size of organization to focus on greatest long-term growth opportunities in SomaLogic’s life sciences business while preserving and leveraging the balance sheet to actively expand the portfolio.”
READDL E&C, Doosan to invest $25 million in SMR developer X-Energy
South Korea’s DL E&C Co. and Doosan Enerbility Co. will invest a combined $25 million in X-Energy Reactor Co., a US-based small modular reactor (SMR) developer.
X-Energy said on Wednesday that it was receiving the strategic investment to finance the development of its advanced SMR, or Xe-100.
Their investments come as X-Energy is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange once it completes a merger with Ares Acquisition Corp. (NYSE:AAC) in the second quarter of this year, the company said.
READSoundHound axes nearly 50% of staff less than a year after IPO
SoundHound, a speech and music recognition company, laid off nearly half of its remaining staff earlier this month, less than a year after the company went public on the NASDAQ.
The development was reported by tech news outlet Gizmodo on Friday (January 13), citing three employees who were axed and an email from the company’s CEO, Keyvan Mohajer.
In the said email, Mohajer wrote: “When we set course in early 2021 to become publicly listed, high-tech companies like SoundHound were the darlings of the investor community.”
SoundHound went public in New York in April 2022 after closing a $2.1 billion merger with special purpose acquisition company Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners.
READRezolve and Grupo Carso enter into strategic partnership to transform Latin American market for Omni Channel Mobile Engagement
Rezolve, a leader in mobile commerce and engagement, and Grupo Carso, today announced a strategic partnership that will see Rezolve’s technology integrated into Claro Shop and T1 Comercios, one of Mexico’s largest online marketplaces, and is expected to transform the mobile shopping experience for millions of consumers.
On December 17, 2021, Rezolve Limited, a private limited liability company registered under the laws of England and Wales, entered into a business combination agreement, dated as of December 17, 2021, with Armada Acquisition Corp. I (NASDAQ:AACI).
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Mobiv Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:MOBV) announced this afternoon that it has closed its combination with EV motorcycle-maker SRIVARU. Shareholders originally approved the deal at a special meeting held back on September 28, but at that time, the parties expected the transaction to take just a week to close. Redemptions whittled Mobiv’s IPO share pool of 10,005,000 down...
Achari Ventures I (NASDAQ:AVHI) has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with medtech firm Vaso Corporation at an equity value of $176 million, or 19.5x its 2022 adjusted EBITDA. Wuxi, China-based Vaso provides IT services and sales support to medical device manufacturers. The combined company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the...
EF Hutton Acquisition Corp. I (NASDAQ:EFHT) announced this morning that its shareholders have approved its business combination with E.C.D. Auto Design. At the meeting, there were 5,089,203 shares of common stock, representing approximately 76.82% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock, present. In connection with the meeting, the company’s stockholders holding 3,470,945 shares,...
Legato Merger Corp. III (NYSE:LEGT) filed for a $175 million IPO yesterday afternoon, becoming the fourth SPAC to file this week. While the other three SPACs that filed their S-1s earlier this week intend to pursue targets in the financial services and biotech industries, Legato III, similar to the earlier Legato SPACs, will focus on...
At the SPAC of Dawn This week ends with an unusually busy earnings calendar as 172 US-listed companies report quarterly figures today. Among them is Exela Technologies (NASDSAQ:XELA), which completed a combination with Quinpario 2 in 2017. The billing software company has gone on to do another SPAC deal on November 29, this time spinning...